Honey in the Hilltowns
A beekeeper’s guide



BERNE — Richard Ronconi has been a beekeeper for over 40 years, and his bees have been keeping him busy.

While he described his hives and provided details about the daily habits, seasonal survival, and intrinsic workings of the bees, it became clear that Ronconi held within his own backyard a fascinating species, a community with members that help one another survive through sharing, sacrifice, and hard work.

The buildings at the Partridge Run Farm and Apiary, as well as the trunk of his car, are filled with jars of honey; the floors and shelves are covered with buckets of beeswax. The beeswax, Ronconi said, will be melted down and used to create candles.
On a day such as Saturday, with the sky overcast and a threat of rain, the bees aren’t as productive. "They’re more aggressive when it’s overcast," Ronconi said. Days before, he added, when the sun was shining and temperatures were higher, the hives were a hub of activity.
"Two days ago, this place was just buzzing. There were hundreds, probably thousands, of bees going in and out of the hive."

During the warmer weather months, Ronconi sells the honey and candles at the farmers’ markets in Knox and Rensselaerville. He also sells his honey at the Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany and the Hilltown Farm and Garden Center in Dormansville.

On September 23, Ronconi took his demonstration hive to Honest Weight for its celebration of Rash Hashanah. They were giving away honey and apples.

Ronconi’s enthusiasm for bees led to a desire to teach; he teaches a beginning beekeeper course at the Cornell University Cooperative Extension in Cairo (Greene County).

Ronconi is no stranger to the teaching profession. Before he became an instructor at the extension, he taught Spanish and was a guidance counselor at the Greenville School District. He retired in 2000, but said he still volunteers at the school.
"I’m enjoying doing the things now that I used to get paid to do," he said.

A fascinating species

Ronconi, using a demonstration hive, a hive contained within clear glass or plastic, which enables an observer to see bees at work, pointed to the bees and their hive.
"It takes about 17 days for a bee to hatch, and when they hatch," he said, "they hatch full-size. Bees don’t grow."

Ronconi perused the demonstration hive, and searched for the bee that is much different and essential to the hive — the queen bee.
"She’s in there somewhere," he said. Upon finding her, he said excitedly, "See her" Do you see how she has a little bit longer of a body" See how she’s a got a longer end" She lays over a thousand eggs a day. She’s a little bit longer, because she has to dip her body to place the eggs into the cells."

He then pointed to each of the cells, the round and hexagonal shaped caverns, where bees store honey, enzymes, and eggs.
Field bees, he said, are the workers who leave the hive to collect nectar from nearby plants and flowers. "They live about three to four weeks," he said.
"They die," Ronconi said, "because their wings wear out."

The queen, he said, has a much longer life and lives four to five years.
"When it’s chilly, the hive clusters together. That way they’ll be warmer," he said.

Survivors in untouched land

Ronconi looked over the land surrounding his home. He has two barns, one recently built, and another that was restored. A state forest lies just to the north. Throughout the winter, he said, he cross-country skies in his backyard and the surrounding area. While he is outside combating the cold, so, too, are his bees.

Bees don’t migrate or die once winter comes.
"Bees," he said, "don’t hibernate in the winter. Honey keeps them warm. And they form a cluster, with the queen in the middle, and they flex their wings to give off heat."

The bees, he said, keep warm throughout the winter and take turns moving from the exterior of the cluster to its interior, where temperatures reach between 70 and 80 degrees.

The bees, occupied with their task of surviving the cold winter temperatures, do not take well to visitors during this time.
"If you open up a beehive in the winter, you’re going to get stung," he said.
The Northeast, he said, is great for beekeeping, because of the vast amount of plantation. "There’s a big variety of flowers here," he said.

During early summer months, he said, the bees get nectar from dandelions, black locusts, and spring flowers.

During mid-summer months, he said, the bees get it from basswood, milkweed, and sumac; in late summer and early fall, the bees get nectar from asters and goldenrod.

Ronconi labels the jars of honey he sells and stores according to the time he collected honey from the hive.

He explained that the source of the nectar greatly influences the taste and color of honey.

The land surrounding his farm and apiary, he said, is a great place for beekeeping because it hasn’t been farmed and treated. In the early 1900’s, he said, the land was bare.
"In the ’30’s, trees were planted," he said.

Problems with bears

Though he hasn’t seen bears in awhile, Ronconi knows they are out there; bears, he said, hibernate in the state forest surrounding his home.

A couple of years ago, in the month of November, his hives were destroyed by bears.
"They trashed the place," he said. "They took big bites out of the hives. There were pieces of beehive everywhere."

Since the destruction of his hives, Ronconi has taken measures to insure the bears stay out.

The following spring, he said, he put up an electric fence.

He wipes and ties pieces of bacon on the electrical fence, so that, when the bears approach it, they will be shocked.
"I don’t want to shoot them," Ronconi said. "I don’t care if they’re out in the woods, as long as they stay out of my hives."

Beginning beekeepers

To have a beehive, Ronconi said, a lot of space isn’t needed.

But there could be a problem, he said, with neighbors if someone starts a hive in the suburbs.

To start a hive, he said, a beekeeper only needs two to three pounds of bees, a queen bee, boxes, frames, foundations for the frames, a smoker, and a protective suit.

A hive consists of at least two wooden boxes. The bottom box (called a super) is where the queen stays. This is a deeper box than the boxes which set atop it, called hive bodies.

The bees can be ordered from a bee supply company, usually located in the South. Bees, Ronconi said, need to be ordered early, before bee suppliers run out.
"Order about two to three pounds of bees and a queen. You need to order them early — December or January — and they come in April."

The total cost, he said, for purchasing the bees and all necessary equipment, is about $250.

Ronconi also said someone looking to start beekeeping doesn’t need to buy an extractor, a large machine used to process the honey, or a wax melter to process the beeswax, because both can be borrowed or rented for a weekend.

Bees do not need to be observed at all times, as household pets do. Every two weeks, Ronconi said, he checks the hives. He enjoys the convenience of being able to leave them to their own devices, and said he can leave for weeks before checking the progression of his bees.
Each box, he said, can provide between 30 and 35 pounds of honey. "It takes a couple of weeks for the boxes to fill up," he explained.

Communicating with other beekeepers and attending beekeeping tours, Ronconi said, has been a great help. The Catskill Mountain Beekeepers Club, he said, has about 65 members, and meets in Acra (Greene County) on the second Tuesday at 7 p.m. each month.

Ronconi said the club has been a good source of information and encourages anyone interested in beekeeping to attend the meetings. The meetings, he said, serve as a place to get ideas. Members, he said, discuss all aspects of beekeeping — the tools and supplies they use, what they store their honey in, where they sell their honey and candles, and the failures and successes they have experienced.
"I probably don’t have a lot in common with some of these people," he said, "but we just talk about bees."